Marketing practice in small tourism and hospitality firms

There has been a paucity of research into the marketing practices and approaches of small tourism and hospitality firms, until the 1990s. This paper goes some way towards improving knowledge in this area by reporting the findings of the first national survey of small tourism and hospitality firms in the UK. Four key areas of marketing practice are highlighted: marketing planning, promotion methods, pricing methods and marketing research. The paper concludes that although a great deal of small hospitality and tourism firm marketing may be characterised as haphazard and unsophisticated, there is much to commend it in the UK. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.